Ohio State had historic success on the field and in the classroom this past fall.
One week after the Buckeyes won their ninth national championship, Donovan Jackson and Seth McLaughlin earned first-team Academic All-American honors, becoming the seventh Ohio State duo to share the accomplishment since 1976. Quinshon Judkins was a second-team honoree.
A first-team All-American on the football field, Jackson carried a 3.68 GPA in the classroom this past fall. The senior offensive lineman graduated in December 2024 with a bachelor’s in sport industry, completing his college career with three Academic All-Big Ten and three OSU Scholar-Athlete awards. The Big Ten’s Distinguished Scholar in 2023-24, Jackson also received the 2024 Cotton Bowl Scholar-Athlete Award and the 2025 Rose Bowl Scholar-Athlete Award in his final season with the Buckeyes.
Although McLaughlin tore his Achilles before Ohio State faced Indiana in its penultimate regular-season game, he still received consensus All-American honors and won the Rimington Trophy in 2024. An offseason transfer from Alabama, McLaughlin graduated in two-and-a-half years from his former school and earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. He then continued his studies during his final year-and-a-half in Tuscaloosa and obtained a master’s degree in sports hospitality management. While at Ohio State, McLaughlin has worked on a third degree in human development and family sciences.
After spending two seasons at Ole Miss, Judkins transferred to Ohio State and ran for 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns in his lone season with the Buckeyes. The junior running back, who declared for the 2025 NFL draft last week, had a 3.64 GPA as a human development and family sciences major this past fall.
Ohio State’s First-Team All-Americans Tandems
- 2024 – OG/OT Donovan Jackson, OC Seth McLaughlin
- 2015 – OC Jacoby Boren, K Jack Willoughby
- 2006 – WR Anthony Gonzalez, FB Stan White Jr.
- 1992 – OG Len Hartman, NG Greg Smith
- 1984 – DT Dave Crecelius, WR Mike Lanese
- 1982 – TE John Frank, OT Joe Smith
- 1976 – FB Pete Johnson, OG Bill Lukens
